Reflecting on Ambassador Summit

I thought I hadn't blogged about the Ambassador Summit last year, and with ambassadorship wrapping up I figured it was time.  I turns out I have already blogged about it but this is a different perspective.  One year later, this is how I reflect on the experience...

I am not sure what I accomplished in the first year of ambassadorship.  Balls were put into motion by my awesome store manager, Em, but I didn’t even realize how cool the opportunities were that she had presented to me.

The first was the Lululemon Ambassador Summit- a gathering of 100 ambassadors from around the world.  I have NO IDEA how or why they chose me.  I still don’t.  Let’s just be honest.  I work hard and I hope that I have a positive effect on people’s lives, but I don’t have the biggest, strongest, most ambitious goals.  I just want to help a few people realize how awesome they are, how strong they are, how mentally tough they can be when faced with adversity.  

But somehow I was picked and packed my bags for 4 days with awesome athletes gathered in Whistler.  Lululemon rented out the entire hotel for us (wow!) and yet we still had roommates.  My roommate couldn’t have been more different than me, but we had a great time, grew close, shared secrets- all of those things that happen when you are in an intimately close group and open to the experience.  

The conference was intense!  Physically intense with a 3.5 hour yoga workshop with Baron Baptiste that pushed me past my previous physical limits and, with it’s slow build and intense should opening sequencing, I was able to go into wheel pose for the first time in a decade.  As a runner with a training schedule, I kept up my workouts and then as a skier, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to spend a half day on the mountain.  I was burning the candle at both ends!

At the other end of the spectrum there was a sort of emotional exhaustion that set in with the workshops.  I had anticipated workshops for business development but instead we did a lot of personal development.  Digging deep into what makes us tick, what fears held us back.  It was intense and while I don't recall the exact bits we worked on, I believe it is all internalized and I am a better person for the work.  

Most profoundly, I’d say that being among athletes that are the top of their field, it was nice to be unapologetic about my goals, ambitions and accomplishments.  I was still reserved- very few people knew that I’d run the Olympic Trials- but I was able to stretch my mind to making a truly big impact on the running community.  I made a ton of friends in all fields and found myself inspired by their positive energy.  



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